Question

Which is responsible for sheet erosion?
a. Tree
b. Air
c. Water
d. None of these

Answer 1

Hint: Erosion is the action of surface processes in earth science (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock or dissolved material from one place on the crust of the Earth and then transports it to another place.

Complete answer:
The uniform erosion of the substrate along a large region is sheet erosion. In a wide range of environments, such as hill slopes, coastal plains, beaches, sheet erosion takes place. & plains of floods. Sheet erosion is a type of erosion by water. With a similar thickness, water flows very uniformly over a surface and sheet flow is known and is the major factor in sheet erosion. That is, in large amounts, water flows in the form of sheets and erodes the soil.

If an area's vegetation cover is lost because of multiple causes, including human activity, the rainwater does not fall into the ground in such a situation and washes away the soil down the slope. A thin layer of ‘absorbent topsoil' is washed away by each successive rain-stream. Sheet erosion is very damaging to farmers because the top surface, which is the most fertile layer of the soil, is stripped. Because of sheet erosion, the growth of various crop types is largely affected.

Surface runoff occurs if the soil is saturated, or if the rainfall rate is greater than the rate at which water will penetrate into the soil. If the runoff has ample energy to flow, loosened soil particles (sediments) are transported down the slope. Sheet erosion is the transport by the overland movement of loosened soil particles.

Hence, the correct answer is option C.

Note:
The mechanisms in which the rocks are broken down into fine particles are erosion and weathering. Erosion and weathering are not to be confused. Erosion is the mechanism in which wind and water carry away rock particles. Weathering, on the other hand, without displacing them, degrades the rocks.